Baseball Collection

The IISOH seeks to develop a comprehensive collection of literature on BASEBALL by collecting everything that has ever been printed on this game in every language in the world. Keep in mind that BASEBALL is an international sport that originated in England where it was known as ROUNDERS and became popular in the USA after the American Civil War. Abner Doubleday, an American General in the Civil War, has been credited as being the inventor of baseball – but this is not true as baseball historians have long known. This Abner Doubleday myth was fabricated by poor research and nationalism. By 1876 there were professional baseball teams. Baseball became the national game of Americans in the late 19th and early 20th century with construction of stadiums and the growth of sports sections in newspapers. It has grown internationally and become very popular in Cuba and Japan as well as many other countries in the world. It has been included in the program of the Olympic Games in the past and seeks to be included in future Olympic Games.

The IISOH seeks everything that has ever been written about Baseball – biographies and autobiographies, team manuals, books about Little League, the Negro Leagues, Professional Women’s baseball and college and university media guides. If it’s about baseball, we want it for our collection, in Japanese as well as English. Keep in mind that we are not a Hall of Fame and have no intention of competing with the National Baseball Hall of Fame or any other museum for memorabilia such as baseball uniforms, balls and bats. Our mission is for scholarly research and education. Our mission includes collecting material for permanent preservation, guardians of sport history. We look forward to a very professional and mutually rewarding relationship with the Hall of Fame and other organizations through research and educational programs.

The IISOH Museum plans to develop a collection of memorabilia that focuses on the history of the sport. The Museum program also includes building fields of various sizes, from Little League through professional, in order to play Baseball outdoors. No Baseball stadium is planned at this time. The mission is to teach the history and evolution of Baseball through time by educating the public through play and participation – visitors will play the game with a variety of historical and modern equipment. This Museum is both indoors and out with traditional Museum-style displays as well as full participation in the sport itself as an educational experience.